20
by Random One-Shot
Summary: Twenty things you probably didn't know about Arago's fearsome foursome.


**D – Doing time sucks **

**I – I don't want to go to jail**

**S – Shuten Doji shall not come live with me any time soon**

**C – California law says I am a minor**

**L – Listen before you make any judgments**

**A – Anubis is really freaking cool**

**I – In my mind only do I own this series**

**M – Masho are not mine, sadly**

**E – Everything I say is the truth. Mostly**

**R – Read my story now and Review at the end! Oh, and Rajura something or other….**

**D.I.S.C.L.A.I.M.E.R.**

**Some people actually **_**do**_** need it spelled out.**

**---- ---- ---- ---- **

**1**

When he first came to them in their dreams, all of Arago's warlords insulted him in some way.

Koma Toshitada was in the midst of a reoccurring nightmare of his first battle, the one where he lost the only blood uncle left to him. When he reached the point where he was supposed to bury his spear in the back of his blood kin's murderer, Arago jolted him out of the scene and into an image of his throne room. Upon seeing the floating head staring at him and the dank atmosphere, Toshitada had dropped his spear point to the ground and asked the apparition how he could show himself at all, when he had to be so embarrassed by the state of his home.

Yamanouchi Naotoki was having a comparatively good dream in contrast, if a little less focused. He was wandering through a forest and looking for something important, he wasn't really sure what, when Arago appeared in the middle of his path. Naotoki smacked the flat of his sword against the side of Arago's helmet to move him and continued on his way.

Sasaki Kujuurou was having a _wonderful_ dream by _anyone's_ standards. Naked, beautiful and adoring virgin girls surrounded him. Said girls were feeding him something wonderful, rubbing all the kinks out of his body, and asking if they could do some other things to him, to which Kujuurou happily agreed. Then Arago showed up. Kujuurou gave Arago a wildly possessive glare, told him to go find his own fucking harem and proceeded to throw the cushions at Arago until the demon emperor teleported Kujuurou, completely naked, into the dream replica of his _Youjakai_ palace.

Kuroda Jirougorou is unique among his peers in that he does not dream, ever. He closed his eyes, in the years when he still had them both, and it seemed only a moment passed before they were open again and it was morning. When Arago broke into his sleep and Jirougorou finally got an understanding of what it is like to dream, he politely asked Arago to leave, since he did not understand what all the fuss over dreams was about.

Needless to say, first impressions on both sides were poor.

**2**

In another set first impressions, all four warlords were injured in some way when they first met each other.

Shuten Doji was the first to be sworn in as a Masho. It was this, combined with his superior leadership abilities, which made him the captain of the Masho. When Anubis received his new name and rank next, the first thing the Warlord of Darkness did was challenge Shuten for leadership. Five minutes later, Anubis had a vicious cut over his eye and Shuten was hiding the fact that his arm was damn near broken in half. Both of them had concussions, and various cuts and bruises all over. Anubis was ready to keep going until he dropped, but Shuten told him that he had already wasted enough time teaching Anubis his place. The last word belonged to Shuten and it was a fairly simple set of instructions on how to get to the hospital wing of the palace.

When Rajura came to the _Youjakai,_ he was perfectly content to sit in the background and watch his new leader and his new ally bicker like starving dogs over a scrap of meat, while he manipulated things from the shadows. This changed very swiftly when he actually observed them in person for the first time and found that they were not the incompetent, jealous mongrels he was used to; rather, they were simply unused to sharing power and authority. If they stopped thinking with their passion and started thinking with their logic, they would actually be quite lethal together. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of saying this out loud. In a show of previously unheard of unity, both Shuten and Anubis thrashed Rajura soundly. He gave as good as he got, but the Warlord of Illusion still came out with three cracked ribs, a laceration on his back the length of a small cat, and a swollen foot that refused to bear him for a week. Deciding that it probably wouldn't be good to kill off one of his master's hand chosen servants, Shuten dragged Rajura to the medical wing himself.

When Naaza joined them, the square was complete. To a degree, all of them knew it. Their master, a demon of legends, said that they would spend eternity serving him and all of them knew he was perfectly serious. It was an unspoken agreement that they would simply have to learn to get along at some point. To Naaza's misfortune, the key words were _'at some point'_. When Shuten heard that the newcomer was seriously thinking about poisoning him and taking his position, he got mad. When Anubis heard that that someone else was scheming to take _his_ future title, he got really mad. United once again, Shuten and Anubis met Naaza in person for the first time, and proceeded to beat him black and blue. Naaza came out with internal bleeding, a bloody nose, missing teeth, and two black eyes. Once he was down, Anubis decided that now was as good a time as any. He went at Shuten.

When the two of them had beaten each other unconscious, Rajura stepped out of the shadows and looked down at his three comrades, feeling a curious mix of petty satisfaction, relief and worry.

The satisfaction came from being revenged on the bastards who had dared to lay a finger on him, partners or not.

The relief came from knowing that, even in a demon netherworld, he could still make people dance to his movements by pulling the right strings and planting the right rumors.

And the worry?

The worry came from Rajura looking down at his new partners, knowing that they had gone after each other like angry little children, and understanding that _these_ were the people he was going to spend the rest of his now immortal life with.

That was the day Rajura began to _really_ understand the sort of misery he had set himself up for.

Coincidentally, that was also the day the head of the hospital wing forever banned the use of painkillers of any kind for the Masho. As far as he was concerned, if they were so damn determined to kill each other, then they could feel every single minute of what they were forcing the harried healers to deal with.

**3**

The part of Anubis' scar that goes over his eye came from Shuten in a fight for leadership.

The part that cuts across the first scar came from something else entirely.

When he first came to the _Youjakai_, Anubis had a beard. It was rather scraggly and short, but it was a beard. Anubis, being only eighteen at the time, thought that it made him look older. Naaza thought that it looked like a weed patch sprouting out of Anubis' face. Anubis picked up the nearest heavy object, threw it at Naaza's head, and the subject was not brought up again for several months.

Then, during the course of one of his annual leadership fights with Shuten, the redhead ordered Anubis to shave his beard off if he lost and never grow one again until he won. Anubis was not yet doing badly in the fight, so he agreed.

When he _did_ lose, all three of his peers were there watching as he garnered a razor and a mirror. Having never shaved before and having a warrior's confidence with blades, Anubis was rather careless. He made his first slice on the left side of his face and felt it scrape through to the bone.

A visit to the hospital wing got him a complete shave done in record time. The healers said that it was because they couldn't put a bandage on over all the hair, but Anubis knew better.

The grin Shuten had on his face as he watched was more then enough proof.

**4**

Against popular belief, Naaza actually does score with the ladies quite often.

It isn't because he is dark and mysterious, like Rajura. It isn't because he is young and powerful, like Shuten. It isn't because he is a wild animal in bed, like Anubis. It isn't because he is a favorite of Arago, though that does bring the majority of his bed partners to him the first time. The reason they all keep coming back is quite simple:

Naaza treats them like human beings.

**5**

Rajura is the only one of the Masho who can say 'the pen is mightier then the sword' and believe every bit of it.

When Shuten, Anubis, and Naaza were busy doing the bloody work of killing for their lords and clans, Rajura was sitting in a room, penning out death orders and battle plans. He was raised to fight and he does it well. Arago would not have looked twice at him if he could not.

But Rajura has seen what words can do. A hushed rumor reaching a husband results in a wife's death. Fiery words written thirty years past that inspire and motivate the present generation. A slip of the tongue spells doom for the speaker.

Knowledge is power. Words are weapons.

Rajura knows this and uses this.

That is why he is the quietest of the four.

It doesn't do to show off your strength, after all.

**6**

Naaza calls Shuten 'brat' because he is younger.

Shuten calls Naaza 'his lesser' because he is beneath him.

Anubis calls them both 'idiots' and prays for the day when he commands them all.

Rajura calls them all 'lucky'; with the tempers they have, he simply cannot understand how they survived to adulthood otherwise.

**7**

The one time Rajura actually _did_ snap and try to kill someone out of sheer rage, it was entirely Naaza's fault.

As stubborn and prideful as Shuten and Anubis are, even they know when it is time to let something go. Naaza is inhuman in his single-mindedness. When the Warlord of Poison gets something into his head, he will never let it go until he is done with it. Ever.

Naaza likes to watch people. Not in the calculating way that Rajura does, though sometimes he had to study them for something less then nice. Naaza just likes to watch other humans go about their business. One night, he was watching Rajura. It suddenly occurred to him that he had not once seen Rajura go to sleep. Not quite up to the task of tricking the answer out of Rajura, and all three warlords were starting to realize that _no one_ would ever be up tricking Rajura in _anything,_ Naaza walked up and outright asked the Warlord of Illusion when he got his sleeping done.

Rajura had grown up in an atmosphere where people were murdered in their sleep quite often. The fact that the _Youjakai _was, if anything, filled with even more ambitious officers and jealous courtiers did not do anything to dampen his paranoia. When Naaza asked him when he slept, all Rajura could think about was when the Warlord of Venom was going to strike.

Rajura did not answer Naaza's question. He left and began asking around, trying to see who, if anyone, was helping the other Warlord in his venture and Rajura came up with nothing. He came up with nothing because Naaza was not trying to kill him. Rajura would never have believed that, even if Arago himself said it.

For three days, Naaza chased Rajura throughout the _Youjakai _Imperial compound. For three days, Rajura got no sleep. Naaza was able to curl up and doze off whenever he wanted to, but the prickling between his shoulder blades whenever he lay down kept Rajura conscious.

Finally, Naaza tracked Rajura down once more and when Naaza got to the 'sleep' part of the _same fucking question_ he'd been asking Rajura for _three fucking days_, the Warlord of Illusion snapped. He'd already made plans to have someone else take Naaza out for him, but when the snake-eyed man cornered him once again it seemed like too long a wait.

Rajura tackled Naaza and began throttling him.

"I sleep during the day, you freak! The day!" Rajura screamed.

The nearest _youja_ pried their commanders apart and took them both to the hospital wing. Naaza was treated for a partially crushed windpipe and Rajura was given a cup of hot tea that sent him to sleep for four days. When the truth of the whole situation got out, Anubis nearly passed out from lack of air as he laughed and Shuten never forgot that Rajura had finally shown his own humanity.

He never let Rajura forget it either.

**8**

The first time the four warlords got together without Arago hovering over them and there was no bloodshed, it was New Years Eve.

Naaza had snuck away from the main party for some peace and quiet. Taking a bottle of the better sake with him, he went out to the upper balcony of the hall and found Rajura sitting there, watching the _Youjakai _moons. Naaza dropped down next to him and passed the bottle.

A few minutes later Shuten came, and then Anubis. No one felt the need to say anything. The only sound was the sloshing of the liquor as it was passed around the four of them. When someone finally _did_ speak, it was probably the sake that had finally loosened his tongue.

Rajura stared up at the sky and muttered, "It is not the same…."

He didn't elaborate to whether he meant the sky, or the fighting, or the master they served, or any of the other thousand little differences between their world and the one they lived in now, but he didn't need to.

Though they said nothing out loud, all three of his comrades agreed with him.

**9**

Shuten Doji has always hated beans. Always.

The first and last time Shuten Doji ever ate beans was because of Naaza and Anubis.

Conspiracy between the two resulted in Shuten being distracted by the Warlord of Darkness just long enough for Naaza to slip a handful of rotten beans into Shuten's soup.

Shuten turned away from Anubis, wondering how much sake his companion had had for him to say something like that, and gulped down one huge mouthful of his soup.

In the next ten seconds the _Youjakai_ was introduced the spit-take, Naaza had a tea tray bashed over his head, Rajura hid under the table, Anubis dodged a flying pot of hot tea and Shuten found that _yes_, it is possible use a baked fish as a projectile weapon, provided you aim for Anubis' big mouth when he turns around to laugh at your face.

Arago banned three out of his four Warlords from the banquet hall for the next two hundred years.

**10**

The Four Masho actually did meet Lady Kayura before the invasion of the _Ningenkai_. It was brief and quick and no one remembered it when they were properly introduced to her, but it happened.

All four were riding back to the Imperial City after a victorious battle against a rebel daimyo in the southern _Youjakai_. The idiot had tried to turn his small holding into a fortress to withstand Arago. It hadn't taken the Warlords an hour to level it.

As they rode through the main street, accepting the praise heaped on them in various ways, a little girl with long blue hair, her attendant one of the demon priests, called out in a surprisingly clear voice, "I hope you gave that old bastard what he deserved!"

Anubis, flush with victory, laughed.

Naaza grinned.

Rajura allowed himself one small smirk.

Only Shuten bothered to look the little girl in the eye. She stared back at him with wonder, awe, and more than a little spirit.

Shuten was suddenly dead certain that the kid was going to be an absolute hellcat when she grew up.

'_Glad she's not __**my**__ responsibility,'_ he thought.

**11**

The reasons why Badamon and the Masho don't get along are quite simple.

Badamon thinks they are tools.

The Masho _know_ he is a bastard.

**12**

Anubis could kill Shuten at any time.

It would be easy; he knows this.

Shuten left himself open everywhere. In his room, at his table, in the bath, in the courtyard, and in the city.

_Everywhere._

If it wasn't a stated challenge, a spar in the training arena, or a bloody battlefield in the middle of nowhere, Shuten didn't have a thought for his safety.

Anubis knows it would be easy.

…And yet….

Shuten is a worthy leader, though Anubis would die under slow torture before admitting it. He is confident, but not stupid. Cunning, but not cautious. Patient, but not slow. Loyal, but not sentimental.

He is a good commander to serve under, though not an easy one.

No, Shuten is never easy.

And Anubis would never allow himself to be less then Shuten.

**13**

Rajura lost his eye somewhere in the northwestern section of Arago's domain.

Another uprising by upstarts who couldn't wait for the great _Ningenkai_ assault, who thought that they could do better, and who were stupid, brave, or desperate enough to actually try.

Rajura was knocked from his horse and nearly trampled. His helmet flew off. He was surrounded and killed six before someone threw a dagger at his face. It hit his eye hilt first and smashed the orb to jelly. Rajura went down and his neck was totally exposed to the sword coming down.

Then Naaza came.

His eyes glowing scarlet and his armor reeking a foul miasma that, in his great rage, felled enemy and friend alike, the Warlord of Poison cared not who stood in his way, only that they _did_ and thus they had to die.

He reached Rajura just in time to smash the oncoming sword to razor bits and jam the broken hilt into the helmet of the attacker. Seething, the Doku Masho blurred his arms and screamed, "_Ja Ga Ken Musetsu Orochi!_"

The fight ended very quickly after that.

Naaza stayed in his full armor, too enraged with _everything_ to consider taking it off. The horse he seized was driven by terror alone to gallop back to the main encampment where it died upon reaching its destination. When he stormed into the medical section, Rajura moaning in his arms, Naaza finally managed to calm down enough to cease emanating his toxic death and shed his heavy armor.

He shoved Rajura into the nearest healer's arms and spat, "Fix him."

Then he walked away to find something to kill.

**14**

It was quite a while before Naaza figured out why he was so furious.

**15**

When he did, it was a moment after Shuten and Anubis left the tent.

The two others arrived at nightfall, coming uninvited to Rajura's guarded tent. Naaza was sitting in a corner, sharpening his swords that never needed sharpening, simply for the sake of something to do. It was better then pondering _why_ he wanted to stay near Rajura until the pale haired freak woke up or _why_ seeing the Gen Masho fall had pissed him off so much.

Shuten glanced at Rajura's pale face and the mass of bandages that covered half of it.

"Will his eye heal?" Shuten asked.

Naaza didn't think about why Shuten was personally looking in on Rajura.

"No. It was completely destroyed," Naaza answered.

"What happened to the guy who did it?" Anubis growled.

Naaza didn't think about why Anubis sounded angry.

"Very, very dead," Naaza answered.

No one said anything, but Naaza could see the word _'good'_ ringing through both of his teammates' eyes.

And then Naaza understood what they were feeling and that he felt the same way.

Anubis and Shuten left him alone with Rajura. Naaza looked at his injured partner with something like wonder.

"Son of a bitch," Naaza whispered. "I don't want you dead anymore."

**16**

Newfound not-hatred aside, Naaza was still Naaza. He didn't tell anyone a bit of it.

**17**

When Rajura woke up, the first thing he saw was Naaza's smirking face, the first thing he felt was Anubis poking at his bandages, and the first thing he heard was Shuten saying, "We've found you the _loveliest_ eye patch."

**18**

Life continued as normal.

Rajura plotted, Naaza skulked, Anubis challenged, and Shuten kicked ass.

But something had changed.

No one knew what.

**19**

No one knew what had changed until, hundreds of years later, Shuten left them.

Oh, they hauled him back quick enough, but it wasn't the same. He wasn't the Shuten they had known, fought with, bled with, and served under. He was different in a way that made them enraged and envious at the same time.

Then the invasion failed, they were back in the _Youjakai_ and Shuten was gone for good.

Then he was fighting against them and trying to turn them away from their master and then he was just _dead_.

Then they knew what it was, but by then it was too late.

**20**

They are the Masho.

They are not friends.

They are not enemies.

They are broken puzzle pieces that have been jammed together for so long that the edges and boundaries have begin to glue and rust and meld together, until it reaches the point where even if they do want to kill each other, it would be murdering part of themselves.

They are spring and summer and fall and winter. The four make up the whole, but they are not one. With the death of one, the remainder is weakened. They will never admit this and so they bite and snap and slash at each other as they always do, with bonds held together by time, familiarity and a will that would have died and turned to dust long ago were it not for the unanimous thought of '_I will not be the first to fall!'_

But like the legs that hold up a house, when one falls the others will not be far behind.

And if they know it, none of them seems terribly upset.

**-E.N.D-**


End file.
